2020s decade – a few astro-pointers

 

The heavyweight Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn marks the start of the coming decade. It brings to a climax the slow grind of Pluto through Capricorn since 2008, collapsing old financial and governmental systems. Where the 2010s was a decade of turmoil with the disruptive Uranus square Pluto causing havoc and throwing everything up in the air, now comes the serious business of trying to put new pieces together. Uranus Pluto clears the decks of what no longer works but can be chaotically destructive since it often neglects to think about what comes next. Saturn, the builder, comes along to instil more order and structure, not necessarily with compassion or sentiment, but it will attempt to lay more solid foundations for the future.

Saturn Pluto is never a fun experience but it will only linger for a few months in effect in 2020 since Saturn moves smartly into Aquarius from March. The Saturn Pluto sombre effect will also be mitigated by Jupiter belatedly catching up to conjunct Pluto through the year which should bring rewards after the pain.

Aquarius is a coming theme for the decade ahead with a Saturn Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius in early 2021, followed in 2023 by Pluto moving into Aquarius to stay until 2043. This airy, inventive, technologically-oriented, scientific, allegedly humanitarian sign does have a lighter feel than Capricorn, but it can produce ideologues and fanatics, often right-wing.

2021/22 will also be marked by Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus, which aspect is often seen as an indicator of a financial downturn. There’s a key Lunar Eclipse in late 2022 with the Full Moon tied into Uranus and square Saturn fairly closely; with a financial bubble-bursting Jupiter Neptune conjunction as well.

2025 will be the year of the decade and not necessarily for positive reasons. Following Pluto’s change of residency in 2023, the other three outer planets all move on a sign which will be a considerable gear shift. Neptune moves into Aries till 2038, having been lingering in Pisces since 2012 and promptly conjuncts Saturn (in Pisces since 2023); and Uranus moves into Gemini for seven years. The Neptune Saturn conjunction is often associated with widespread epidemics, as well as neurosis, creativity and hope for a better society.

The September 2025 Solar Eclipse indicates clearly the forces in play – a Uranus in Gemini trine Pluto in Aquarius trine New Moon which is opposition Saturn Neptune. It’s a powerful mix of outer planets all interconnected, so it will be accompanied by significant events. And that innovative and unsettled Uranus trine Pluto sextile Neptune runs on in orb for several years. The energy is Air and Fire, so it will be a time of fertile ideas, intellectual and scientific exploration – inspired but not always realistic.

45 thoughts on “2020s decade – a few astro-pointers

  1. As often happens, Neptune’s effects are underestimated in this discussion. Neptune in Pisces is associated with compassion for the suffering of the masses in times of great inequality. In the Age of Pisces, it brought mass religions with compassion for all mankind and particularly the poor, such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.
    In the Age of Aquarius, which may or not have begun as far back as the US Declaration of Independence, Neptune in Pisces has so far brought political religion, mainly in the form of socialism. The last time Neptune was in Pisces, in the mid-1800s, Karl Mark published his Communist Manifesto, and countless socialist parties and trade unions were born.
    So it’s no surprise socialism has found a voice through Bernie Sanders and major health care reform in US political discourse in recent years. Neptune in Pisces should continue to bring a leftward tilt to US politics, but it is currently slowed by the Saturn-Pluto conjunction in more conservative, realistic and practical Capricorn.
    In addition, the relation between transiting Neptune in Pisces and Neptune in Virgo in the US chart is complicated. Both are square US Mars in Gemini. Neptune in Virgo, opposed to Pisces, does not have great compassion for the masses, which is why the US is the only Western country without a public health system for all. The US, as we know, is the land of individual freedom and responsibility.
    Neptune in Virgo is more about low-key service, healing, medical and lifestyle changes, which of course is what many Americans discuss constantly and export to the world. This tendency was profoundly renewed during the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo during the Sixties and Seventies. Health care is the constant number one issue in electoral campaigns.
    Neptune in Virgo square Mars can also bring compassionate service through the military. US miltary power has saved the world from tyranny in Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union three times (the two world wars and the Cold War). The world still needs American security protection from Russia and China.
    However, the current Neptune opposition (or semi-return) turns all this on its head. It brings at this time the worst of Neptune to the US, and indirectly to the world because of the weight of the US in world affairs. This is a weakening of the American spirit through widespread lies and deception of the people. There was similar moral uncertainty in the US in the 1840s and 1850s when Neptune was in Pisces. This confusion was only cleared by the Civil War at the time of the Uranus return.
    Will history repeat itself? There is of course another Uranus return coming in the second half of the 2020s. In the shorter term, once Neptune has cleared the semi-return, the Left should be stronger for the mid-terms in 2022 and especially the presidential election in 2024 when Pluto will have entered Aquarius. This would be comparable to the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Michael Lutin wrote in 1996: “It will all be about who is elected president in 2024.” Maybe it will be Biden’s choice for VP.
    After having lived through the last transit of Neptune in Pisces in opposition to US Neptune, Abraham Lincoln famously said: “You can fool some of the people all the time, you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.” Indeed, after the Neptune semi-return, he brought more faith and inspiration to the US and to the world than ever before, and was only equaled by FDR during the Neptune return.
    This is the meaning of our time. There will be renewed faith and hope in America in a few short years, whatever happens in 2020 and, in a longer view, whatever awaits us in the Uranus return. Indeed, the Uranus return should be another opportunity for the US to show compassion through bold action once Neptune enters the sign of Aries in 2025.

    • “… the US is the only Western country without a public health system for all. The US, as we know, is the land of individual freedom and responsibility.”

      The US is a country of individuals, and as long as individuals rule the land, little will change. I appreciate your combing thru history to provide for your argument that “This is the meaning of our time. There will be renewed faith and hope in America…” yet there is little historical evidence to show that such has occurred. Rather, such has not endured: as long as one man has a stick to beat another down.

      Trump is unique with creating a polarized America for his offspring and ilk to inherit the country. This is the opportunity that a crafty politician or opportunist can position himself/herself to grab the reins of power during and after the conflict.

      Human greed drives us, motivates and consumes us. You fail to mention that the US has never been attacked from the outside, only from within during its Civil War. This may be the time the US is soundly thumped from the outside after having become sufficiently weakened from within.

    • Neptune can get lost a bit in the shuffle with all the major planetary cycles commencing in the coming decade, but it is definitely worth discussing. It is going to reach its half cycle in the US chart in 2021-22 (tr. Neptune in Pisces opposition natal Neptune in Virgo). It also means that it will be squaring the US Mars in Gemini during that period as well, concurrent to tr. Saturn in Aquarius square Uranus in Taurus. Last time Neptune was in that position, the US experienced the Panic of 1857, which was triggered by excess speculation in railroads and real estate. Now that it comes around to the same position, we might be experience a pronounced slowdown or even a major recession in that timeframe for similar causes. tr. Saturn square Uranus certainly would support that outcome. The US Mars square Neptune will also be stressed by a Mars retrograde cycle in Gemini in 2022, along with tr. Jupiter in Pisces. That suggests weak economic conditions, also the potential for misguided political rhetoric, or muddled judgment due to excess mutable energies in hard aspect to each other. On Election Day 2022, as Marjorie points out, we have a Full Moon in Taurus conjuncting Uranus and squaring Saturn in Aquarius. That could actually suggest the empowerment of more reactionary, conservative representation. It is possible that a Democratic administration is voted into office in 2020, but they subsequently get blamed for the economic weakness following years of speculation, and conservatives are elected in 2022. It should also be pointed out that 2022 is the year when the US experiences its Pluto return.

      We are in for an eventful next several years.

      • “We are in for an eventful next several years.” Agree with you and others who posted about the intensity forthcoming. Off to food shop and will read your reply without distractions from the stomach.

  2. There have been three Uranus returns in US history: the War of Independence, the Civil War and D-Day. While this does not lead to the prediction of another civil war, it is hard to escape the likelihood of another major military event. The difference this time is retrograde US Mars for many decades. This either means military defeat or, more optimistically, the need to support and strengthen a coalition of allies or another political actor such as the UN who will play a greater role.

    • Marjorie posted a brief on US militry intervention/activities a couple yrs ago, the 2024 timeframe. Didn;t look esp upbeat. Could also be suggestive of internal civil war: shooting oneself in the hand and foot.

    • There is a possibility that the US might be involved in a short, but sharp military conflict in 2027, when the US experiences its Uranus return. Tr. Mars will be retrograde in early Virgo for a part of that year, squaring the US Uranus as the country experiencing its Uranus return. Given the precedent that this transit sets off military conflict or civil unrest in the US, that is a distinct possibility. Many of the aspects of the 2020’s (Saturn square Uranus, Saturn conjunct Neptune, Pluto in Aquarius) can point to unsettled political situations at home and abroad, along with empowered protest movements becoming the norm. It might be a natural outcome of prior events.

  3. Very interesting! Thanks for posting this Marjorie! Looks like a decade full of technological change, upheaval in the financial and labor markets, protests, social disruption and even civil unrest globally. Also big geopolitical shifts and tensions at various points (watch US vs. China in particular). The big dynamic at play is the decentralization of large political and economic entities, and the disruption that will be created as new hierarchies form as a result of these shifts in the power structure.

    The dominant aspect of the early 2020’s is the Saturn in Aquarius square to Uranus in Taurus, which overlaps and immediately succeeds the Jupiter/Saturn/Pluto conjunction of 2020. It really starts to get into orb next spring when Saturn moves into Aquarius, with Uranus about 4 degrees off the square in Taurus. I hadn’t noticed the lunar eclipse on the 8th of November in 2022 at 15 degrees Taurus, conjuncting Uranus and squaring Saturn within a degree off exact. That eclipse happens on Election Day here in the US, so I’m sure that many of the themes that came up in 2020 will up for review again that year. That’s a key point, and it could suggest excess financial speculation leading to bursting financial bubbles. Either way, that square is active for several years out, so we can really expect disruptions in the financial markets, volatility, political instability, perhaps even a big economic slowdown in that period. This suggests a tension between egalitarianism and social movements (Aquarius) and established capital (Taurus). Protests against establishment institutions throughout the world, already seen in Hong Kong, Chile, France and other areas are likely to become the norm.

    I see the current social, political and economic crisis period as beginning with the Saturn conjunct Pluto next month and concluding with the Saturn conjunct Neptune concluding in early 2026. The year before has Jupiter in Cancer squaring the Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Aries, with Mars in Libra aspecting those points in August of 2025. These hard cardinal aspects are certainly very dynamic, big protests are likely during this period. After that its smoother sailing (relatively?), with some hiccups here and there. 2027 has a Mars retrograde in Virgo squaring Uranus in Gemini for much of the year; that can augur geopolitical conflict of some type (it occurs around the time of the US Uranus return, a period which historically has been linked to war–Civil War and WW2 occurred with that placement). The Taurus/Aquarius theme repeats in 2029/30 when Saturn in Taurus squares Pluto in Aquarius, with Jupiter in Scorpio completing the t-square that year. That’s going to be another big marker.

    Expect a decade of change, conflict and fast moving events. Buckle up! Happy holiday season to all!

    • I’m interested in the Saturn/Uranus square you mention. Uranus’s entry into Taurus in 1934 coincided with the severe droughts which led to the damaged ecology of the American and Canadian prairies – the ‘Dust Bowl’. In addition, there was rationing both in the US, USSR and U.K. during the inter-war period. I’ve felt for some time that Uranus in Taurus will be connected to food shortages due to climate change and other challenges (the rise of veganism amongst the youth occurred just as Uranus was on the cusp of Taurus) and feel we’re also entering a period where we will have no choice than to become more resourceful and less of a throwaway society. With Saturn in Aquarius, I think this may become even more crucial, Uranus being the ruler of Aquarius and Saturn’s association with agriculture.

      • Yes, food security issues or increased geophysical activity could certainly play a big role in what’s coming, along with banking and currency valuation issues. Cryptocurrencies might crash during this timeframe, and resource based economies could be stressed by increased deflation. As Marjorie points out, this aspect has been associated in the past with economic problems, and with Uranus in material Taurus involved, this is even more so a possibility.

        Saturn will square Uranus three times in 2021, the first pass in early February is sure to be the most memorable. Mars in Taurus will aspect exact Saturn/Uranus, with Sun, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all in Aquarius, close to each other. This is going to be a heavy time of intense political conflict and disputes. It could be a period where the impetus for change runs against major resistance from institutional forces attempting to consolidate power amidst a crisis situation. The second pass of the Saturn/Uranus square in the summer of 2021 should also be important. If the Aquarius side of the equation wins out, we can expect reforms, especially in the financial sector. But it won’t be easy for whoever is in power by then. Change will come in the next decade, but only because prior arrangements are no longer sustainable.

        A possibility which Marjorie raised might hold true about these Aquarius placements; that it could symbolize the empowerment of conservative/reactionary governments throughout the world. This does happen with the Taurus/Aquarius polarity, which is fixed and ideologically stubborn. It is a theme that will repeat in late 2023 with Jupiter then in early Taurus squaring Pluto in Aquarius and later in 2029, with Saturn in Taurus squaring Pluto in Aquarius. There is a range of possibilities that we should contemplate here, but either way, the climate is sure to be very charged in that period

        Conservative/reactionary governance isn’t likely to be met with a wide level of support, as there will be increasingly potent resistance, especially as we move towards the 2025 Saturn/Neptune conjunction in Aries, an aspect that has historically correlated back to protest movements or revolts. Uranus in Gemini trining Pluto in Aquarius and sextiling Neptune in Aries provides support for change, along with Jupiter in Leo during 2026 in particular. The middle to latter part of the decade should be a dynamic time, with better economic prospects, fueled by new technological developments, but still unsettled in some spots. In the long term, we will move forward, with some fits and starts here and there. The biggest positives to come out of this decade will be huge innovations in tech, especially in neural learning and similar fields. The pendulum might swing a bit back towards the conservative element, particularly in the mid-2030’s, but that’s a ways out still!!!

        • Good points, Uranus in Taurus is surely to be sudden and extreme climate events, which are already evident, and these finally spilling over onto political action and reactions (Saturn square). Huge decade for change. Old certainties gone. Boomers loosing control of events and societies.

          Every year from 2011 another year of boomers turned 65, from 2026 that becomes 80… (as defined as those born 1946-64).

          • All very true. The 2020’s and 2030’s will be defined by a shift in generational elites from the baby boomers to the younger generations, who will likely govern with a different set of policy objectives in mind (out of necessity more than anything else). The aspects around the Saturn square Uranus look somewhat autocratic and reactionary politically, but in times like that is when the impetus for real change is often born. It is all but guaranteed that the world is going to look very different in 20 years time.

  4. And have who instead?70s Communist, Corbyn? This website is not I dependent assessment of astrology, it is clearly a Leftist opinion column. As an astrologer Marjorie seems to have no understanding of the goal of the Cosmos whatsoever. The two party system must go, that means the clowns if Labour, the LibDums and the Tories can no longer be allowed to take control. Aquarius is not right wing and it will level the playing field. Call yourself an astrologer?? Hah! Brexit will and must happen to prevent the global elite and if you don’t know about them, you don’t know about astrology!

    • SweatSocks Joe, What are you drivelling on about? ‘Collapse of old governmental systems’ does rather point to the old two-party dog and pony show disappearing.
      The point about Aquarius is that it is a sign astrologers tend to be overly starry-eyed about. For example Neo-nazi Jorg Haider, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck all had/have multiple Aquarius planets. Being but a few examples of its less humanitarian side. All signs have positive and negative poles and Aquarius’s tend to be further apart than most.
      Where was Brexit mentioned?

      • Amen! It’s obvious, with turmoils of that The UK chart especially, that the essentially two party system that has dominated the field, for what, 90 years (I’m quoting from memory, but seem to recall Liberal Democrats lost most their seats in 1927), is coming to end. What’s very confusing to The UK electorate outside Scotland is that nobody alive has a vivid memory on how politics worked in a situation where you had essentially more choices than two. This is part of the Brexit “confusion”. Party leaderships are completely unprepared to this situation.

        And this is clearly an issue in many other established democracies as well. Germany and Sweden are prime examples, while France has been well ahead the curve.

      • I tend to think with Aquarius that maybe they are just more up front, for better or worse. For example, Eddie Izzard, very Aquarian chart and I think a long time Labour party member/activist? Although, in true Aquarian form, as the Labour party went left, he went further towards the centre. Same the Aquarian politician Sarah Wollaston. But yeah, the humanitarian thing confuses me sometimes too

      • In traditional astrology Aquarius is ruled by Saturn. It is a planet of orthodoxy and tradition. Aquarius is an air sign so I expect ideas to become more important and the “feelings” based political culture of the last decade to begin to fade particularly as Neptune moves to leave Pisces. Playing the victim card to gain your political ends is probably not going to work very well in the next decade. The movement of the Great Chronometer cycle of Jupiter Saturn Conjunctions to Air signs will also be in play. The first hint of what this might mean was the 1981 meeting of these planets in Libra. It should be remembered that it coincided with the Thatcher/Reagan era which bought lots of changes to the world but not necessarily for the better for many ordinary people. I therefore don’t have a Panglossian view of what may be about to happen.

        The current set up of the outer planets is very similar to that seen just after the beginning of the Reformation ( ie the period from about 1518 to 1540). It was an era of great upheaval that saw the end of the medieval Catholic world. However, it should be noted that the religious reformers who overthrew the established religious order did not see themselves as revolutionaries but as people who wanted to take Christianity back to its traditional scriptural roots. As a consequence I think though we might see the world change fundamentally there will be a strong element of trying to get back to basics driving the process.

      • Worth noting that the Saturn Jupiter conjunction in 2020 at 0 Aquarius occurs when Pluto at 23 Capricorn exactly squares Mars at 23 Aries and the dwarf planet Eris at 23 Aries. The latter body was only discovered in 2005. Rather fatefully the Greek Mythology web site states “Eris was the Greek goddess of chaos, strife and discord. She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera; according to other myths, she was the daughter of Nyx (dark night) alone. Her opposite was Harmonia. The equivalent Roman goddesses of Eris and Harmonia were Discordia and Concordia. She had a son, Strife, whom she brought along with her when she rode her chariot to war alongside Aries.”

        Given some of the harsh Mars aspects next year I think I will start worrying about the rest of the decade once we have got out of 2020.

    • That’s quite the emotional rant against Marjorie, there. Do you always start hectoring people who have a different view to you? Perhaps you believe that only you are enlightened when it comes to “the goal of the Cosmos”??
      I agree somewhat about Aquarius not being right wing in itself, but I don’t think it’s going to mix with the Brexit issue in quite the way you imagine. I’m no Corbynista but the “1970’s! Communism!” tropes are so effing boring now.

      • The ideas of individual responsibility and hard work are quite Saturnian I think, and are ideas that chime readily with conservative values and views. Saturn’s traditional rulership of Aquarius can be very descriptive of that sign sometimes. It may be a “humanitarian” sign, but its element is air. There will always be something cerebral about it “I think, therefore I am”. The Water Bearer pours water for everyone because that is their job. Not necessarily from a place of empathy or heartfelt philanthropy. I am not saying this is a cold or unfeeling sign, just that as far as I can see it functions in a particular way that is far from the euphoric 60’s idea of the Age of Aquarius.

        • Thanks Jane. That’s interesting what you say about perception of the right being more Saturnian, because when you actually look at their track record you couldn’t get a more irresponsible bunch. Where to begin?
          Letting children live in poverty?
          Allowing the disabled to not be able to afford to eat or heat their homes?
          Lack of action on climate change
          Oh last but not least, a stupid referendum on the EU with a simple Yes/No and simple 50% majority on the day. All to save a political party.

          I could go on and on, I know there’s loads of examples, but will spare us all a political rant – but “Hard work and responsibility”? lol. It’s ridiculous when you think about it, isn’t it? I wouldn’t let them babysit my goldfish. I think many people just go for the branding and personalities and ignore the reality. I think a decade is about what it’s going to take for these long held preconceptions to change.

          Back to Aquarius, yes the myth of Ganymede is a strange one. I think it’s telling that he goes from herding sheep (benefit of mankind) to the eagle sweeping him off to become the water-bearer (benefit of the Gods), I’m sure he worked just as hard at both, but I think the myth went that he rebelled in the end, threw down the water/wine and Zeus couldn’t bring himself to punish him, so put him among the stars. It definitely carries a theme of migration too.

          • Tara – yes the gap between perception and reality is a yawning abyss sometimes, politics, religion, relationships….! Ganymede was kidnapped by Zeus/Jupiter in the form of an eagle to be his lover, and then Ganymede rebelled eventually, asserting his individuality. Maybe the flight part of the story is where the idea of an air sign originated? As far as I know, the water bearer bit of Aquarius is found, symbolically, in myths about the constellation in other, earlier cultures – Egypt and Babylonia for instance – waters of life, rain, and the sea. Pouring water is a vital job, and also suggests control to me, a deliberate act and a defined role. Saturn likes that sort of thing whether from the idealogical left or right.

            Uranus would seem to come in with the rebellion part of this myth. Also, just in my own imagination, I think the zigzag symbol looks like cartoon depictions of electricity.

        • I’ve long thought of Aquarius as being “all people are equal,” while Leo on the other side of that polarity has a flavor of “some people are more ‘equal’ than others.” The feelings in Aquarius to me just have a wider, less personal scope, less susceptible to being co-opted by individual concerns. We’ll see the last gasp of the Pluto in Leo, Baby Boomer, “me, me, me” ethos once Pluto moves into Aquarius. Though I think the Pluto in Leo time period was probably a necessary correction for that generation in the U.S. after the horrible Great Depression/family-drama darkness of the Pluto in Cancer times.

  5. Complex, fascinating and so thorough, thank you!
    How does this affect certain Countries? Read your colleague saying 2020-2024 period could lead
    to another period of Civil War in the U.S., for instance.

    • Not sure about a Civil War though certainly major internal fractures and ructions with the can-be-fanatical USA 1776 Mercury in Cancer opposition Pluto in Capricorn getting battered by tr Pluto aiming for its first return since foundation. It’ll bring intense, bitter and hostile debate.
      The USA Civil War of 1861 kicked off on a Uranus Return on the 1776 USA chart which is back late this decade with Uranus in Gemini; but there was a previous one in 1944/45 which didn’t lead to a rupture.
      The 1861 war was also reflected on the USA First President chart of 30 April 1789, if anything more clearly, with tr Pluto conjunct the Taurus Sun which is a classic Civil War aspect. Again that’s not around though tr Uranus will conjunct that First President Taurus Sun from July 2020 onwards into early 2021 – interesting to see what blows at that juncture.

    • I think astrologers seeing a Civil War as an option are reading too much to Neptune in Pisces. I agree with Marjorie here too, I see Civil War in The US very unlikely. This is, outside astro community, a talking point forces wanting a globally weak US (Russia, but China, too) seem to have been pushing for a while.

      I’m curiouser about Pluto Return, we haven’t seen many of these with a country that has maintained their basic form of Government. I think of Denmark and Sweden, maybe, which are monarchies with National Assamblies predating Parliamentarism.

      What’s really interesting is the fact that in The US, many advocates for President Trump’s impeachment have brought up the founding idea of The Republic – having a president rather than a king.

  6. ‘Air and Fire’; the climate emergency accelerating certainly fits with those patterns. At least the aspects between Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune at the mid decade eclipse offer some hope amid the chaos by being softer…

    I fear many of today’s concerns are going to feel very trivial indeed, very soon.

    On the UK election:
    One thing I have never understood is why any kind of majority of citizens might vote for a party openly exercising austerity (you know, as opposed to prosperity). Well I do get it; they have to believe it means austerity specifically for others, and somehow then wealth for them, at least by comparison. A cruel game. And a dangerous one; very few can be sure they’ll always be in the preferred group, or that the emisseration of others won’t affect them or indeed collapse the whole game… perhaps Pluto in Cap is exactly a kind of image of this politics? In which case is it headed for its culmination with the conjunction with Saturn in Jan, presaged by the election next week. And can we hope for a later Jovian resolution to this madness….?

    • Further thought.
      If ‘implosion’ is a good one word summary of the Saturn/Pluto planetary picture, then ‘explosion’ is likely the Jupiter/Pluto corollary…!? eek, better be careful what we wish for…

      Ebertin uses ‘cruelty’ for the former, and ‘the desire for power’ for the later. At least we are the end, or the beginning of the end, of S/P and the possibilities of J/P to come.

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